The Daily Lives of the Owl Familia: P2:
In the Darkness, We Learn to See

Summary: The Moment is at hand, will the Demon and Human Realms be able to co-exist?

A man made his way through the crowd and came to stand between the residents of Gravesfield and the witches. Drake Blacklight Junior looked at the residents of the demon realm and offered them a reassuring smile.

He then looked at Jacob with a scowl. "Jacob, let that young lady go."

"But uncle-"

"Now, Jacob!" Drake said firmly, glaring at his nephew.

Jacob couldn't help but falter under his uncle's glare and let Amity go. The young witch ran to her fiancee and little brother and hugged them tight.

"LUZ! KING! AMITY!" three voices suddenly shouted.

Eda, Lilith, and Camila appeared on the scene and ran to their kids. They quickly hugged the young witches and the titan like they hadn't seen them in years. Drake's smile grew a little as the scene and then turned serious as he looked back at the crowd.

"I ask you, good people of Gravesfield, this is like the sight of vile and evil creatures?" the florist asked as he gestured to the group behind him. "Because all I see is a family concern for their own."

Drake took two steps to his right so the townfolks could get a better view. Voices started to rise, and most were of the same thought.

"But, they're so different."

Drake shook his head and said, "That's maybe true, but not even twin siblings are 100% the same." He then pointed to someone in the crowd. "Tai, you're family came to the States from Japan when you were a teen, right? Can I ask if you truly forgot your roots when you came here?"

The man in question shook his head awkwardly.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" a resident asked.

Drake just smiled at the gathering and replied, "Everything. I am of Irish descent, but now I ask how that affects everyone who knows me?"

Every single Gravesfield resident looked at Drake like he had grown a second head. Even his nephew was looking at him dumbfoundedly.

"Because at the end of the day, where my family came from doesn't matter, and do you want to know why?" Drake asked.

Drake let that question hang in the air and looked at the Owl Familia. He smiled when he saw his child's girlfriend had joined the others and then looked back at the residents.

"It's because you all know me and have judged me based on my actions, not where my family came from or who I shared blood with."

Drake casually shoved his hands into his pocket and got close to the residents. He looked around and noticed despite all he just revealed, the resident didn't look at him like some kind of outsider.

He smiled at this.

"I see that none of you're looking at me differently than when one of you visits my shop," the florist said casually. "And that's because none of you can forget all I have done while living in this town."

He took a step back and looked at the gathering, letting his last sentence hang in the air before he continued.

"It's like my grandfather, Donald Blacklight, always said: in the darkness, we learn to see. I asked, do you think you know what that means?" Drake asked curiously.

The crowd began to talk among themselves. Drake gave his fellow residents a minute to think this over and joined the Owl Familia. He looked back at the residents and saw that none of them had come to answer.

"It's a metaphor," Drake explained, "I always believe it meant that if you always looked at what's right in front you, we forget that there are wondrous things we can't see just past our sight."

Drake walked up to the crowd once again and gestured to the Owl Familia.

"Right here, right now, we have been given a chance to make up for the sins of the town's past. So, are we really going to fall back on those outdated habits simply because we all refuse to get to know people and judge solely by looks?"

Drake turned to the Owl Familia, walked up to the witches, and offered a friendly hand.

"I know it's late, but my name's Drake Blacklight Junior, and on behalf of the Town of Gravesfield, I welcome you," the young man spoke with kindness.

Lilith looked at the hand and then back at her family. Camila and Luz nodded their heads, while Eda looked slightly indifferent, and Amity looked uncertain. The ex-Coven head looked back at the human and sighed.

With slight hesitance, Lilith reached out and took Drake's hand. The florist shook the witch's hand and then smiled.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS, UNCLE!?" Jacob suddenly screamed.

Drake groaned and released Lilith's hand as he glared at his nephew.

"Really, Jacob?" Drake asked, underwhelmed. "After all that, you're still going to make a scene!"

"YES!" Jacob screeched. "I'm not going to stop until the taint these vile witches placed in our town is gone!"

Drake let out a tired sigh and began walking over to Jacob. Suddenly, King jumped out of Luz's arms and ran up to the historian.

"Hey!" he screeched, "the only time my mom is vile is when she had too much Apple blood."

King missed the glare Eda gave him as he continued with his rant.

"And another thing," he said angrily. "You pushed my big sisters down and took off with me. So say you're sorry to my big sisters and me!"

Drake cocked an eyebrow and looked at his nephew as he crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't even need to ask Jacob the question on his mind; he could tell from his nephew's body language that King was telling the truth.

"Oh, really" Jacob replied defiantly. "And what are you going to do if I say no, you lame excuse for a plush toy?"

King's anger jumped two scores when Jacob called him that and puffed out his chest. The other members of the Familia gasped as they realized what was about to happen, and Luz and Eda rushed to stop King.

Just before the young titan was to use his sonic squeal, he cupped his mouth. The gesture muffled King's attack enough not to cause any harm to the human. It just knocked him off his feet.

The Owl Familia gawked at this, not expecting the young titan to do something like that, and King noticed.

"What?" he asked curiously, "The guy's a jerk, but he's not worth it."

Drake watched all of this with a smile and then turned his attention to the town's folks. He saw that most were still looking at the witches with uncertainty, but not with fear.

Drake would take that as a win and want over to talk to adult witches.

Unknown to the crowd was a figure hiding behind a church, watching all of this unfold with a smile of his own.

(G Corner)

Man, I have wanted to use that saying for a long time! So, we're about half through the "reveal" arc, and in the next chapter, you learn who the mysterious figure is, if you already haven't guessed it.